This is not what anyone expected.

The New York Rangers were given a window this season to go to the next level and possibly compete for the Stanley Cup.

Unfortunately, the disciplined team, which everyone was expecting and renewed the faith of the Garden is nowhere to be found. What we are seeing is a squad in chaos as three very tough games come on the schedule this week. The defense is bad, the sophomore goalie is looking mortal and the star player claims he can't shoot.

All this equals up to an under .500 record and a group looking into the abyss.

But what are these problems and how can the Rangers solve them?

Let's find out.

“I Can't Shoot.”

The Problem: If you ask Jaromir Jagr, he will tell you that his injured left shoulder is not fully healed and he has no slap shot. Now, Jagr can shoot without pain, but his problem is he lost a few miles per hour off his fastball. Much like a pitcher who uses his number one  to set up his breaking balls, Jagr needs his hard slapshot to set up his wrister.

Looking at the numbers, Jagr has taken 44 shots and only converted on three, for a 6.8 shooting percentage, which is well below his career of 14.6 percent. Since goalies don't have to worry about blazing rubber from No. 68, they can sit back and look to the other Rangers on the ice, which takes away production from Jagr's linemates.

But great players do adjust and Jagr has become more of a playmaker by spreading out the puck to his teammates, as evidenced by his 15 assists. That works if there's another sniper – like Brendan Shanahan – to take his place, but with Michael Nylander, who believes in passing first to the wing's left, the bulk of the goal scoring will go to Martin Straka, who is a nice player, but complimentary at best.

The Solution: Even in his diminished state, Jagr has too much value, so there's no reason to sit him down until he's healthy and he will eventually gain strength in his shoulder as the season goes along. Coach Tom Renney may want to move Shanahan up to the top line, but that will hurt the second unit. Yet, as we saw last year, one killer line and a bunch of role players can get you to the playoffs, if the team can play defense.

That leads us to...

It's the Defense, Stupid

The Problem: Darius Kasparaitis, Karel Rachunek, Marek Malik and Michal Rozsival look awful. They are making mental errors, giving up the puck at bad times and also are real slow. But no one saw this coming, since Kasapraitis, Malik and Rozsival all played extremely well last season, so there was no reason to expect such a downturn.

This is just a hypothesis, but it might make sense, because this problem is not just Ranger specific. The lockout afforded a number of these older slower defensemen fresh legs for last season. Since many took 2004-05 off or played in Europe, where a season was around 45 games, they came into last year rejuvenated and were able to keep up with the new NHL. But after playing a full slate of games, the Olympics and then the playoffs, the faster game is now taking it's toll.

The Rangers need to address this problem soon, because the longer it lingers, the more the losses will pile up.

The Solution: Cut, cut and cut. The Blueshirts need to bite the bullet and treat this like a business. Sending Kasparaitis, Malik, or Rachunek to Hartford will send a message to the rest of the veterans. Right now, the Renney can dress Thomas Pock, who has fresh legs and go with six. No one in Hartford is impressing, so there may not be a solution there. But someone has to go.

Remember, the Garden is paying millions to Larry Brown not to coach the Knicks, so what's a few million to a couple of struggling backliners?

Oh, and don't buy into Renney wanting to go with eight defensemen. It's obvious they want to make a trade or two, so there's no need in decreasing any of their values by saying someone will be cut. The players are doing a good job at that by themselves.

Best guess is Malik and either Kasparaitis or Rachunek will be gone via trade or a waiver by next week.

Your HMO Has Been Declined

The Problem: The energy line isn't there. Ryan Hollweg has been good, but Dominic Moore is gone and Jed Ortmeyer is out until December. Hopefully Ortmeyer is on schedule, because annoying little problem of giving up a goal right after getting one, is starting to grate. Ortmeyer is the Rangers best defensive forward who block shots better than anyone, getting him back with help the lower lines.

The Solution: None, except waiting for Ortmeyer to be cleared and reunited with Hollweg.

Uneasy Is The Head That Wears The Crown

The Problem: Henrik Lundqvist just isn't the same. It could be because he's has a mental block from the hip-flexor last year or maybe it could be because of the migraines and the medication he is taking for them. Don't know and it's just a guess. But The King has been anything but regal. With no defense behind him, he stands there many times naked in the crease.

The Solution: If Lundqvist is the goalie for the next 10 years, and the Rangers claim they are still rebuilding, then they have to play him to see if he can get out of this funk. Starting Kevin Weekes will do nothing to help the Swede long term, so if the plan is not this just this year, the Blueshirts need to keep No. 30 in net for now. If the defense gets better, watch Lundqvist do the same.

Genius One Year, Idiot the Next

The Problem: Last season Renney had two things going for him: Little expectations and the motivation of a team that wanted to prove every hockey expert wrong. For the whole year, Jagr kept the Sports Illustrated prediction taped to his stall at MSG and he brought it up when the team was doing well. That's now gone, so the coach needs to find something else to drive this team.

Renney is a good coach and a pleasure to deal with. He sometimes can be too honest, but that's refreshing in this town and he does plan and has a good coaching staff supporting him.

The Solution: Now after a great season last year, Renney should have a chance to sink or swim with this ship. Even though Ken Hitchcock is out there, there's no reason to pull the trigger this fast. The coach needs to shake things up when the Rangers return from the West Coast by cutting a defenseman or two and maybe even bench a few players. Constantly switching lines won't help, but maybe he can use the New York media turning on the team as inspiration. It worked last season, why not try it again?

  E-mail this story |  Printer-friendly |  Discuss